More than a dozen companies Wednesday pledged $157.8 million in high bids for the rights to drill on 116 tracts in the western Gulf of Mexico during a lease sale that affirmed the oil and gas industry's interest in moving into ever deeper waters.

Just 11 of the 116 blocks that were snapped up are located in less than 660 feet of water, and 40 of the sold tracts are in depths of more than 5,280 feet.

The government expects to take in $133.8 million in total high bids, an amount comparable to the $115.5 million pledged in high bids during an August 2009 auction of western Gulf leases.

The most recent western Gulf auction, last December, was a $325 million event driven by pent-up demand after the Deepwater Horizon disaster prompted regulators to cancel a 2010 sale; analysts widely said Wednesday's sale would not compare.

The western Gulf generally is considered less attractive than the central Gulf. Interest in Wednesday's sale might have been suppressed by the relatively few newly available blocks recently relinquished by oil and gas companies.

Milito noted that “there's not a lot to choose from in the western gulf. So a lease sale which only results in 116 tracts being bid on is relatively reflective of the limited number of leases available and the areas where leases are located.”